Vampire Weekend Just Around the Corner

With list-making and seasonal festivities behind us now it’s time to look ahead to new music releases for 2010. First one up, the always brilliant Vampire Weekend whose upcoming sophomore album Contra is out next Tuesday (Jan. 12th) via XL. But the icing on the cake is news that the Brooklyn quartet is touring in support of the album. Vampire Weekend will play a few shows in the US before heading to Europe in February. They'll return to North America to tour in March and April. (I’m looking at you Calgary March 15th!)

If you would like to preview Contra, you can do so right now right here - or on Vampire Weekend's MySpace page, where they're streaming the entire thing for free.



Vampire Weekend Tour Dates Below

Jan. 12 Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theater
Jan. 17 New York, NY @ United Palace Theatre
Jan. 18 New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Jan. 19 New York, NY @ The Bowery Ballroom
Feb. 5 Bexhill, England @ The De La Warr Pavilion
Feb. 7 Cambridge, England @ The Cambridge Corn Exchange
Feb. 8 Manchester, England @ Manchester Apollo
Feb. 9 Leeds, England @ O2 Academy Leeds
Feb. 10 Birmingham, England @ O2 Academy Birmingham
Feb. 12 Newcastle Upon Tyne, England @ O2 Academy Newcastle
Feb. 13 Glasgow, Scotland @ Barrowland Ballroom
Feb. 14 Edinburgh, Scotland @ The HMV Picture House
Feb. 16-17 London, England @ O2 Academy Brixton
Feb. 19 Berlin, Germany @ Astra Berlin
Feb. 20 Cologne, Germany @ Gloria-Theater Koln
Feb. 21 Hamburg, Germany @ Ubel Und Gefahrlich
Feb. 22 Brussels, Belgium @ L'Ancienne Belgique
Feb. 24 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
Feb. 25 Paris, France @ L'Olympia
Feb. 26 Toulouse, France @ Le Bikini
Feb. 27 Barcelona, Spain @ Penelope
Feb. 28 Madrid, Spain @ Teatro Circo Price
March 14 Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Event Centre
March 15 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall at University Of Calgary
March 16 Missoula, MT @ The Wilma Theatre
March 18 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
March 19 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
March 20 Aspen, CO @ Spring Jam Core Party
March 22 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
March 23 Milwaukee, WI @ The Riverside Theater
March 25 Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre
March 27 Knoxville, TN @ Tennessee Theatre
March 29 Columbus, OH @ Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
March 30 Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy
April 1 Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
April 2 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
April 3 Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall
April 5 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
April 6 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
April 8 Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle Atlanta
April 9 New Orleans, LA @ House Of Blues New Orleans
April 10 Austin, TX @ Stubb's Bar-B-Q
April 11 Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues Dallas
April 13 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
April 14 Pomona, CA @ The Fox Theater
April 19 Oakland, CA @ The Fox Theater
June 12 Newport, England @ Seaclose Park (Isle Of Wight Festival)

I’d Look Psychotic In a Balaclava

New Vampire Weekend Song Available for Download

Ahhhh viral band marketing, your beguiling and mesmeric charms have done it again. Vampire Weekend has just released the lead track from its upcoming album and in exchange for an e-mail address (or not), you could be listening to that very song on your iPod in no time. Horchata is now available in glorious high bit rate MP3 format as a free download on the band’s official website.

Definitely exploring the same musical territory to some of the songs on their first full length, the song takes on an almost celebratory vibe. This time though, the Brooklyn based quartet has traded in the trademark skittering guitars for xylophones and kalimbas. There is a lot going on in this song. The fuller sound is augmented with a host of other world-music instruments; some of which are played by Brazilian musician extraordinaire Mauro Refosco.

Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig told NME today , Vampire Weekend recruited Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco for the song. “We just heard he’s joined Thom Yorke’s band (The New Yorkers). He’s an amazing percussionist,” Koenig said Refosco, who performed with the Radiohead leader during his solo gigs in L.A. this past weekend.

Vampire Weekend is currently on tour, with two Canadian dates including a stop in Montreal tonight and Toronto on Thursday.

The band’s latest album, Contra is out on January 12th via XL. Here's the rest of those upcoming tour dates:

10/06 - Montreal, QC @ Le National
10/08 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
10/15 - London, UK @ King's College
10/22 - Paris, FR @ Nouveau Casino
11/02 - Long Beach, CA @ The Art Theater
11/05 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriet's
11/07 - Lafayette, CA @ Town Hall Theatre
11/08 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
11/09 - Visalia, CA @ The Cellar Door
11/10 - San Luis Obispo, CA @ Downtown Brew
11/12 - Bakersfield, CA @ Chencho's
11/14 - Lomita, CA @ VFW Hall
11/17 - Tokyo, JAP @ Tokyo Unit
11/21 - Sydney, AUS @ Oxford Art Factory